| pubmed-article:1565286 | pubmed:abstractText | The Authors point out the importance of histiocytes in Papanicolaou smears. Histiocytes are associated with endometrial carcinoma on tissue sections and may be seen on cervicovaginal smears as well. Smears obtained from 120 women, with clinical signs of endometrial diseases, were evaluated to determine the correlation between the presence of histiocytes in the cervicovaginal smears and endometrial adenocarcinoma. Histiocytes were quantified as minimal [less than 5 per high-power field (hpf)], moderate (5-10 hpf) or heavy (greater than 10/hpf). The histiocytes were found in smears from 80 women. Five adenocarcinomas, 9 hyperplasias were detected in 20 patients with moderate or heavy smears. The Authors conclude that the presence of histiocytes among postmenopausal women who have cervicovaginal smears should not be ignored. The data indicate that, in the absence of endometrial cells, histiocytes on cervicovaginal smears of postmenopausal women are associated with more elevated relative risk for endometrial carcinoma. | lld:pubmed |
